Is using Sherlock Holmes’s method of deductive reasoning an effectiveor affectiveway to solve a problem?

Does Hercule Poirot’s obsessive neatness aggravateor irritateyou?

Is the final scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo an allusionor illusion?

I have a plethora of writing reference books on my shelf: books on crime references, police procedures, plot development, dialogue writing, and several on the craft of writing. Truth be told, once I read most of those tomes, I’ve rarely cracked their covers again. If I need a technical question answered, like, “What type of blood-splatter does a .45 create?” I Google it.

But there’s one book I keep close at hand and refer to often. It costs less than seven dollars, fits into my pocket, and was first published eighty years ago. The Elements of Styleby William Strunk Jr., and later updated by E. B. White, is my go-to reference whenever I need to review rules of usage and principles of composition and form.

The chapter I utilize the most is one not often found in writing reference books, or at least not in such a concise manner. It’s something I should probably read everyday: “Words and Expressions Commonly Misused.” The three examples above cause me to pause every time I use certain words in a sentence. The Elements of Style makes distinctions clear. Affectiveis an adjective meaning “arising from” or “relating to.” Effectiveis an adjective meaning “to bring about” or “to accomplish.” Aggravatemeans “to add to a vexing situation,” and irritatemeans “to annoy.” Allusionis “an indirect reference,” and illusionmeans “a false impression.”

How about these two words—also defined in Strunk and White’s little but important book: nauseousand nauseated. Do people who pick their noses make you nauseousor nauseated? Actually, for me, they do both. I’m nauseous because their behavior is sickening to contemplate and nauseated because it makes me feel sick to my stomach.

There are times when I have fun with the misuse of words. One of my characters in my Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series is a ditzy blonde named Ruth who often uses the wrong word, not in a grammatical way, but in a, well, ditzy blonde way. In my WIP, Sydney avoids Ruth, which annoys her. Here’s Ruth’s comment:

“I came all the way to San Antonio to get you out of another bind and you avoid me. You act as if I had the bluebonnet plague.”

In Ruth’s defense, the story takes place in the late spring when the Texas’s state flower is in full bloom.

Kathleen Kaska writes the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series and the Classic Triviography Mystery Series. Her Sherlock Holmes and Alfred Hitchcock trivia books were finalists for the 2013 EPIC Award in nonfiction.